Yarn Heater

ABSTRACT

A yarn heater assembly is provided or formed with an endwise extension of that part of the assembly which constitutes a heating zone for a running yarn. The extension houses a box-like suction chamber having a lengthwise inlet or inlets for entraining and removing fumes and condensate from the heated yarn.

[451 Feb. 4, 1975 3,782,890 l/l974 Howorth 432/59 3,796,538 3/l974432/59 l l YARN HEATER Howorth...............................

[75] Inventor: Samuel Gosling, Bollington nr.

Macclesfield, England [73] Assignee: Scrogg Ernest & Sons Limited.Primary E i j Camby Macclesfield, England Attorney, Agent, orFirm-Michael S. Striker Jan. 28, 1974 Appl. No.: 437,354

[22] Filed:

ABSTRACT [30] Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 27, 1973 GreatBritain....................

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS [52] US. 432/59, 266/3, 432/72{51] Int.

[58] Field of Search..........

1,746,155 Heisler.............................i... 432/59 7 Claims, 3Drawing Figures 4 5 a l 6 we. 2 W J a z w I n" n 2 a. I 3 r 2 e x x 0%ns mo r i /lvi z u a 9 5 2 n lllll ||ll1|l1l||1|l|||||||llllllllllllllLYARN HEATER This invention relates to a heater for processing runningyarns, and especially to heaters used on machines for producing falsetwist crimped thermoplastic yarns which during processing are heatedwhilst in a highly twisted condition to set the twist.

It is known that fumes are given off by thermoplastic polymeric yarnswhen they are heated to temperatures such as are required to set twist,and it is already known to employ fume extraction equipment to deal withremoval of these fumes and/orcondensate formed from the fumes.

According to the present invention a yarn heater assembly is providedwith or formed with an endwise extension of that part of the heaterassembly which provides a heating zone for a running yarn or yarns, saidendwise extension forming a housing for fume removal means which arethereby incorporated as part of the heater assembly.

The endwise extension may be formed to provide an open-sided lengthwiserecess which houses a coextensive box-like suction chamber along thelength of which the running yarn or yarns travels adjacent one wall ofthe chamber, said wall being provided with inlet means through whichfumes given off by the yarn are drawn into the suction chamber.

Preferably said inlet means is a slot running lengthwise of the chamberwall. Both ends of a yarn heater assembly may be provided with or formedwith an endwise extension each housing fume removal means, or only oneendwise extension may be provided at the exit end of the heater assemblyas regards the direction of yarn travel.

The tendency is for fumes to rise as they are formed from yarn runningover or through a heater, depending upon the type of heater employed,but in present day high speed yarn processing machines heaters ofrelatively great length are employed, such as one metre or more, becauseof the speed of travel of the running yarns.

The elongated heaters currently in use are usually located in aprocessing machine in an upright disposition, or may even be inclined toreduce the overall height of the machine. When yarns run from bottom totop of the machine the tendency of the fumes to rise is assisted by therunning yarns and it has been proposed to locate common fume extractionequipment adjacent the tops of the heaters for serving all heaters in arow.

Even when the yarns have run from top to bottom of the machine. thetendency has been for the fumes to rise, but with yarn processing speedscurrently being of the high order of 750 metres 21 minute or greater, ithas been found that the running yarns cause fumes to issue from thebottom ends of upright or inclined heaters to an extent whichnecessitates the use of fume removal equipment in order that these highrunning speeds can be maintained, the present invention beingparticularly useful in these circumstances for fume removal at thebottom exit ends of heaters.

An embodiment of the invention will now be described with reference tothe accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a fragmentary front view of one end portion of a yarn heaterassembly according to the invention.

FIG. 1a shows a modification of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 2 is an end view of the heater assembly of FIG. 1.

Referring to the drawings, in FIG. 1 two yarns 10 are indicated asrunning downwardly through an upright heater assembly indicatedgenerally at A.

The yarns 10 are heated by running in lengthwise grooves 11 of a heaterplate 12, and the chain-dot line 13 of FIG. 1 denotes the bottom end ofthat part of the heater assembly which is actually involved in heatingthe yarns, the heater plate 12 being located in an opensidedchannel-like lengthwise recess provided by a casing 14 which ingenerally well-known manner encloses heating means for the heater plate,such as electrical heating elements with insulation to limit heat loss(not shown), although other methods of heating could be employed.

In accordance with the present invention the casing 14 of the heaterassembly is formed with an integral endwise extension 15 which has thesame contours as the main casing 14 and which could be a separatelyformed part secured to the main casing instead of being integraltherewith. The endwise extension 15 forms a housing for fume removalmeans which is thereby incorporated as part of the heater assembly, theextension 15 being shaped to the same cross-sectional contour as themain casing 14 to provide an open-sided lengthwise recess 16 throughwhich the yarns 10 travel, the recess housing a co-extensive box-likesuction chamber 17 which is secured by its rear wall 18 to the rear wall19 of the extension.

The suction chamber 17 is conveniently made from sheet metal byfabrication, its rear wall 18 and side walls being formed by bending afirst sheet metal strip to channel shape, and its front wall 21 beingprovided by the base of a second sheet metal strip also bent to channelshape and having its side walls 22 secured as by welding to the innerfaces of the side walls 20 of the first channel shape strip. The secondbent strip provides an open-ended channel through which the yarns 10travel from the heater plate 12, but the ends of the suction chamber 17are otherwise closed, the base of the channel for the yarns 10 being thefront wall 21 of the box-like suction chamber thus fabricated.

The two yarns 10 run along the length of the suction chamber adjacentits front wall 21, which is provided with inlet means in the form of alengthwise slot 23, through which fumes given off by the yarn are drawninto the suction chamber 17. Other inlet means instead of a slot may beused, such as a row of holes or short slots 23a (see FIG. 1a).

The suction chamber 17 is connected to an exhaust pipe 24, preferablynear the bottom end of the chamber, which is connected to a source ofsuction so that fumes and condensate are drawn from the chamber ofdisposal.

Near the bottom end of the suction chamber 17, its front wall 21 canalso be provided with a condensate drain hole 25(FIG. 1), through whichis sucked for disposal any condensate which may form on the front wall21 of the chamber and flow down the front wall. More than one such drainhole can be provided in the front wall 21. The hole 25 seen in FIG. 1 islocated on the right hand side of the front wall near its bottom end,and would be so located if the heater assembly shown upright wereinclined to the right. Near the drain hole 25 is shown a shallow ledge26 for trapping any condensate flowing down the front wall 21. Therecould be further such ledges near further drain holes in the front wall21.

When heater assemblies such as above described are employed in falsetwist crimping machines as twist setting heaters, the yarn runs from theheater to a false twister and the twist which is inserted runs back overthe heater and is set. The yarn needs to be cooled before it reaches thefalse twister, and the present invention, besides providing for highlyefficient fume removal with minimum escape of fumes into the atmosphere,also gives the advantage that a stream of air at ambient temperature isinduced by suction to flow across the running yarn and provide a coolingeffect close upon the yarn leaving the heating zone of the heaterassembly.

What is claimed is:

1. In a yarn heater assembly comprising means defining an elongateheating zone for at least one running yarn, the improvement comprisingan endwise longitudinally projecting extension at one end at least ofsaid assembly, and fume removal means incorporated in said extension.

2. in a yarn heater assembly comprising means defining an elongateheating zone for at least one running yarn, the improvement comprisingan endwise longitudinally projecting extension at one end at least ofsaid assembly, said extension being formed to provide an open-sidedlengthwise recess, a box-like suction chamber housed in said recess tobe co-extensive therewith, a lengthwise front wall of said suctionchamber adjacent which the running yarn travels, inlet means in saidfront wall through which fumes given off by the yarn are drawn into thesuction chamber, and means for applying suction to said suction chamber.

3. Yarn heater assembly according to claim 2, wherein said inlet meanscomprises a lengthwise slot in said chamber front wall.

4. Yarn heater assembly according to claim 2, wherein said inlet meanscomprises a lengthwise row of holes in said chamber front wall.

5. Yarn heater assembly according to claim 4, wherein said holes areslots in said chamber front wall.

6. Yarn heater assembly according to claim 2, and further comprising atleast one condensate drain hole in said chamber front wall.

7. Yarn heater assembly according to claim 2, and further comprising atleast one condensate drain hole in said chamber front wall, and at leastone condensate trapping ledge adjacent said drain hole.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION PATENT NO. 23,864,074

DATED February 4, 1975 INVENTOR(S) Samuel Gosling It is certified thaterror appears in the above-identified patent and that said LettersPatent are hereby corrected as shown below:

On the cover sheet, in the heading, the name of the assignee should readScragg not Scrogg" Signed and Scaled this twenty-ninth Day of July 1975[SEAL] A ttest:

RUTH C. MASON C. MARSHALL DANN Alresling Officer (ummissiuner uj'Parenrsand Trademarks

1. In a yarn heater assembly comprising means defining an elongateheating zone for at least one running yarn, the improvement comprisingan endwise longitudinally projecting extension at one end at least ofsaid assembly, and fume removal means incorporated in said extension. 2.In a yarn heater assembly comprising means defining an elongate heatingzone for at least one running yarn, the improvement comprising anendwise longitudinally projecting extension at one end at least of saidassembly, said extension being formed to provide an open-sidedlengthwise recess, a box-like suction chamber housed in said recess tobe co-extensive therewith, a lengthwise front wall of said suctionchamber adjacent which the running yarn travels, inlet means in saidfront wall through which fumes given off by the yarn are drawn into thesuction chamber, and means for applying suction to said suction chamber.3. Yarn heater assembly according to claim 2, wherein said inlet meanscomprises a lengthwise slot in said chamber front wall.
 4. Yarn heaterassembly according to claim 2, wherein said inlet means comprises alengthwise row of holes in said chamber front wall.
 5. Yarn heaterassembly according to claim 4, wherein said holes are slots in saidchamber front wall.
 6. Yarn heater assembly according to claim 2, andfurther comprising at least one condensate drain hole in said chamberfront wall.
 7. Yarn heater assembly according to claim 2, and furthercomprising at least one condensate drain hole in said chamber frontwall, and at least one condensate trapping ledge adjacent said drainhole.